Developing Cold-tolerant Fruit Cultivars for Finland
Heimo Hiirsalmi and Jaakko Säkö
Agricultural Research Centre, Institute of Horticulture, SF-21500 Piikkiö, Finland
Despite the extreme northern position of Finland between the 60th
and 70th parallel of latitude, it is feasible to carry on economically
profitable fruit growing. This is made possible by the warm Gulf
Stream current. As it skirts the shores of northern Europe, the Gulf
Stream creates an exceptionally favorable climate in the Nordic
countries. How well perennial plants do at the extreme limits of
their natural cultivation areas is influenced particularly by the length
of the growing season (days with mean temperatures at least + 5C),
the sum total of the effective temperature (the positive difference
between the mean temperature of the growing season and + 5C
multiplied by the length of the growing season), the rigor of the
winter, and the thickness of the snow cover, among other factors.
The length of the growing season in southwestern Finland, where
the Inst. of Horticulture, Agricultural Research Centre, is located,
is > 173 days and in northern-most Lapland under 124 days. The
respective cumulative effective temperatures for these regions are
> 1295 and under 710.
Severely cold winters, when the temperature in southern Finland
may drop below –30C and in Lapland close to –50C, occur, on
average, once in 10 years. Under these conditions, the parts of
woody perennial plants that are without snow cover are damaged.
Injury to the root system is also likely if the snow cover during
severe cold periods is thin. Exceptionally hard winters for perennial
plants have occurred in Finland in 1955-56, 1965-66, and 1984-
85 (Sake, 1957b; Sako and Pessala, 1967; Sako and Yli-Pietila,
1987). The coldest winter of this century was Winter 1986–87 (Sako
and Lundén, 1988).
Most fruit tree and berry plant species and cultivars have been
developed in consideration of different, generally more temperate
conditions than those normally prevailing in Finland. Hence, the
hard winters of Finland cause great losses among the material im-
ported from abroad. Thus, the cultivation of fruit trees and berries
in Finland cannot be developed solely with the aid of foreign genetic
material—we must breed domestic, winter-hardy cultivars suited
for Nordic climatic conditions. Good winter hardiness is among the
more crucial challenges facing plant breeders in Finland.
Commercial tree fruit production in Finland is focused almost
exclusively on the apple, grown mainly in the southwestern part of
the country, although home and hobby apple-growing occur as far
north as central Finland. Plums and sour cherries are produced to
a limited extent, especially in the southwestern archipelago. Sweet
cherry growth does not succeed in Finland, and the pear has re-
mained an item for a few hobbyists. The most important berry plants
in Finland are the strawberry and the blackcurrant. The black cur-
504
rant does well as far north as the Arctic Circle, when suitable cul-
tivars are chosen. The northern limit for acceptable production of
strawberry, red and white currant, gooseberry, and raspberry is
north-central Finland. For successful overwintering, the most ad-
vantageous growing sites for raspberry are found in snowy eastern
Finland on the slopes of tree-covered hills. With some meager suc-
cess, attempts have been made to adapt berry plant species of for-
eign origin, such as the American highbush blueberry, lowbush
blueberry, and cranberry, to Finnish conditions. Some efforts to
develop new plants through interspecific breeding have been made.
The potential for cultivation of the lingonberry and the sea-buck-
thorn has also been explored.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
Fruit breeding in Finland has been centered in the Inst. of Hor-
ticulture at Piikkiö. For fruit trees, breeding efforts currently are
focused solely on the apple in an attempt to develop hardy root-
stock, as well as hardy and good-quality cultivars. Hardy strains
of plum, sour cherry, and apple have been collected for the gene
bank with a view to further breeding. The most important breeding
targets among the berry plants have been the black currant, straw-
berry, raspberry, nectar raspberry, arctic bramble, highbush blue-
berry, and sea-buckthorn. Of these, the bush berries, as well as the
raspberry and nectar raspberry, have required breeding for inten-
sified winter hardiness.
Three different breeding methods have been used at the institute:
crosses between different cultivars of the same species, interspecific
crosses (possibly connected with doubling chromosome numbers),
and the forming of pure lines through repeated self-pollinations with
cultivars (linked with combination crossing). The first two methods
have been very useful, but repeated self-pollinations have most
often produced progenies weakened to such an extent that winter
loses have been heavy.
BREEDING OF SPECIFIC FRUIT CROPS
Apple (Malus domestics Borkh.)
Cultivars. During the past decades, hundreds of foreign apple
cultivars have been tested at the institute. The aim has been to find
cultivars that are as winter-hardy as possible, that produce good-
quality fruit, and that are suited for a cool, short growing season.
Several cultivars being tested come from eastern Canada, where
they perform at least satisfactorily. Yet only a few of them are
suitable for cultivation in the more coastal climate of Finland.
H ORT S CIENCE , VOL. 26(5), MAY 1991
Table 1. The new Finnish apple cultivars.
Released
Cultivar Cross for cultivation
Pirja Huvitus × Melba 1981
Maikki Melba × Huvitus 1981
Samo Melba × Huvitus 1982
Make Atlas × Yellow Autumn Kallvill 1981
Jaspi Lobo × Huvitus 1981
Table 2. The new Finnish small-fruit cultivars.
Apple cultivars for commercial production have remained nearly
the same for more than 30 years. Considerable changes have oc-
curred in the percentages of the various cultivars grown. The cul-
tivation of ‘Wealthy’ declined after the hard Winter 1955–56. The
same decline occurred with ‘Åkero’ after Winter 1965-66. Cana-
dian ‘Lobo’ became the principal cultivar 30 years ago and it has
maintained this position, averaging ≈ 45% of annual apple produc-
tion. Newer cultivars are Canadian ‘Atlas’ and ‘Raike’. Other cul-
tivars in commercial production include ‘Transparence Blanche’,
‘Melba’, and ‘Kanel’.
The breeding program launched at the institute in 1958 has, most
importantly, the aim to develop high-yield and high-quality cultivars
adaptable to Finland’s climate. From 1958 to 1966, 30 crosses were
made, in which 17 cultivars were used. With winter hardiness and
productivity in mind, the cultivars Antonovka, Atlas, Huvitus, and
Kanel were chosen” as parents. To improve quality, as well as pro-
ductivity, cultivars such as ‘Melba’, ‘Lobo’, ‘Gyllenkrok As-
trakan’, ‘Yellow Autumn Kalvill’, etc., were used. The cross progeny,
comprising a total of ≈ 10,800 individuals, have, as a whole, been
hardy. Despite the hard winters before the selection, only 7% of
the trees perished. All told, 224 selections have been included in
further evaluation. Nearly all have proven to be very winter-hardy;
injuries were minor even in the record-breaking cold of Winter
1986-87.
To date, the crossing program has produced five apple cultivars
(Sake, 1982; Sako and Laurinen, 1985). Under the conditions pre-
vailing in southern Finland, all are either summer or autumn cul-
tivars. In order of earliness of maturity, they are: ‘Pirja’, ‘Maikki’
and ‘Same’, ‘Make’, and ‘Jaspi’ (Table 1). Of the additional se-
lections, some maturing later than those named above, there are
still at least 10 valuable enough to be named and adopted for cul-
tivation.
Rootstock. The rootstock plays a major role in determining win-
ter hardiness of apple trees, having both direct and indirect effects
on the tree. The direct effect is manifested in the inherent hardiness
of the rootstock when the soil is deep-frozen. The indirect effect is
H ORT S CIENCE , VOL. 26(5), MAY 1991
apparent in the reaction of the grafted scion cultivar, how early
defoliation takes place, and how early the shoots go into dormancy.
The commonly used Mailing rootstock M. 1, M.2, M.4, M.9,
and M.26 have not proven sufficiently hardy for Finland (Meurman,
1943, 1947; Sake, 1958). Some seedling rootstock of hardy cul-
tivars, such as ‘Antonovka’ and ‘Sugar Miron’, have proven hardier
under winter conditions than the Mailing types (Sake, 1975). Fur-
thermore, trees grown on seedling rootstock have not shown more
individual variation in growth and cropping than trees propagated
on clonal rootstock (Sake, 1953, 1957a). Today, however, seed-
ling rootstock are used infrequently for apples.
The Swedish clonal rootstock ‘A2’ has been, until recently, the
most commonly used one in Finland. Now, however, the domestic
clonal rootstock ‘YP’, developed at the institute, is replacing it.
The ‘YP’ originates from the seed of an open-pollinated Siberian
crabapple tree [Malus baccata (L.) Borkh] (Sake, 1977). In our
comparative trials, its winter hardiness has been found to be better
than that of any other rootstock. A grower response questionnaire
dealing with the damage to orchards caused by the severely cold
Winters 1984-85 and 1986-87 has confirmed the favorable impres-
sion of the ‘YP’ rootstock among producers (Sako and Lundén,
1988; Sako and Yli-Pietilä, 1987).
On the basis of the results obtained in the field and in laboratory
tests, the hardiness of rootstock under Finnish conditions has been
assessed as follows (Sake, 1984): very hardy, ‘YP’; hardy, ‘An-
tonovka’ seedling; moderately hardy, ‘A2’; not acceptably hardy,
M.7, MM.111, and M.2; susceptible to frost injury, ‘Bittenfelder’
seedling, ‘Grahams Jubiläum’ seedling, ‘Normandie’ seedling, M.4,
Ml, MM.103, MM.110, MM.109, MM.106, M.9, and M.25;
very susceptible to frost injury, MM.104, MM.101, MM.112,
MM.105, MM.113, and MM.102.
‘YP’ is a very promising rootstock where winter hardiness is an
important requirement for apple cultivation. It is a very vigorous
rootstock producing sturdy trees. ‘YP’ has been crossed with the
dwarf rootstock M.26 and the semi-dwarf rootstock M.27, which
are not suited for our climate. The aim is to produce a winter-hardy
dwarfing rootstock.
Strawberry (Fragaria × annanasa Duch.)
With the strawberry, it is possible to find cultivars developed for
mild climates that can be grown in Finland. The best results have
been obtained with German ‘Senga Sengana’ and Danish ‘Zefyr’,
which have become the most common cultivars in Finland (Säkö et
al., 1979).
Due to the protection offered by the snow, strawberry most often
winters well. This being the case, good winter hardiness, vigor,
and other characteristics have been major considerations when mak-
ing selections for comparative trials.
In 1984, the first Finnish strawberry cultivar, developed as the
result of the breeding program, was released for cultivation under
the name ‘Hiku’ (Hiirsalmi and Sake, 1985). This cultivar, resulting
from the cross ‘Senga Sengana’ × Scottish ‘Redgauntlet’, has proven
to be the best yielding, the most vigorous, and the most winter-
hardy of the cultivars tested and grown in Finland. In 1988, a cross
between American ‘Pocahontas’ and German ‘Lihama’ was released
for cultivation under the name ‘Mari’. ‘Mari’ is an early ripening
cultivar with winter hardiness. In 1986, the vigorous and hardy
wood strawberry ‘Minja’, which produces small aromatic berries
and is meant for home growing, was named and released (Hiirsalmi
et al., 1987).
Black currant (Ribes nigrum L.)
Black currant cultivars commonly grown in Central Europe and
Great Britain do not do well under Nordic climatic conditions. The
most important of the cultivars grown in Finland are local strains
from northern Sweden and Finland (Hiirsalmi, 1982). Their favor-
able characteristics, such as their winter hardiness, and the favorable
characteristics of the central European and British cultivars have
been used in cross-breeding attempts to combine these character-
istics. The Swedish ‘Ojebyn’, which at present is the most common
cultivar in Finland, has been used in many crosses. In addition to
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being very winter-hardy, it is also field-resistant to gooseberry mil-
dew, which badly infects most cultivars.
The best selections have been obtained by crossing the ‘Öjebyn’
with the British ‘Wellington XXX’ cultivar. Upright growth of the
latter is well suited for mechanical harvesting; however, it is sus-
ceptible to winter injury and mildew infection. The most promising
selection, 67008081, will be proposed for naming and release. It is
a good cropper, has upright growth, is field-resistant to gooseberry
mildew, and, in addition, is winter-hardy.
Plants of self-pollinated ‘Ojebyn’ black currant progeny with green
berries can be found regularly (Junnila and Hiirsalmi, 1987). In
these berries, the amount of anthocyanin pigments is very low or
the pigments are missing altogether. A black currant cultivar with
green berries was released in 1986 by the Inst. of Horticulture under
the name ‘Vertti’ (Junnila et al., 1987). Its resistance to gooseberry
mildew and its winter hardiness have been found to be good, while
the crop level approximates that of the parent cultivar. When ripe,
the flavor of the yellow-green berries is typical of the black currant,
but milder and less acid.
Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)
Cultivation of the American highbush blueberry, using cultivars
developed in the United States or Central Europe, has not succeeded
under Nordic climatic conditions (Hiirsalmi, 1988; Hiirsalmi and
Sake, 1973). The main drawbacks with all cultivars have been their
rather low winter hardiness and susceptibility to blueberry canker,
the commonly encountered stem disease caused by the fungus Fu-
sicoccum putrefaciens Shear.
To create highbush blueberry selections better-suited to Nordic
climatic conditions that are disease-resistant and at the same time
give good fruit quality and yield, the institute has tried crossing
domestic Vaccinium species with the highbush blueberry (Hiirsalmi,
1973, 1977a, 1977b; Rousi, 1963). Of the northern European spe-
cies, it has been possible to cross the bog blueberry (V. uliginosum
L.) with the highbush blueberry. Selected individuals from the prog-
eny of crosses have been back-crossed with the highbush blueberry
to improve cultural characteristics.
Selections made from the back-cross progeny have a shorter growth
habit and are generally more winter-hardy and canker-resistant than
the foreign cultivars. Regarding crop standard and berry size, most
of the selections are in the same class with the highbush blueberry
cultivars. A selection from the back-cross ‘Rancocas’ × (V. uligi-
nosum × ‘Rancocas’) was released in 1982 under the name ‘Aron’
(Hiirsalmi and Lehmushovi, 1982). It has tolerated the most dis-
astrous winters considerably better than the best American cultivars
Rancocas and June in the trials at the institute. In addition, it is, to
a satisfactory degree, resistant to blueberry canker and provides
moderate fruit yields.
Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.)
To some extent, the raspberry has been a part of the breeding
program at the institute since 1973. At present, there are no cultivars
available that are well adapted to our climatic conditions and that
are also good croppers (Säkö and Hiirsalmi, 1980). In 1981, an
extensive breeding project was started to develop new cultivars
using, among other traits, the gene pools of the wild raspberry to
combine heavy yields, winter hardiness, and disease resistance. The
Canadian ‘Ottawa’ and ‘Muskoka’, the most successful commercial
cultivars in Finland, have been crossed with domestic wild raspberry
strains. Several promising individuals have been found among the
progenies. It is, however, regrettable that they seem to have inher-
ited small berry size in addition to the favorable characteristics of
the wild raspberry-the winter hardiness and fine aroma of the
berries. In 1988, the first of these very winter-hardy selections was
put on the market under the name ‘Vine’. It is a cross between the
cultivar Ottawa and a Finnish wild raspberry strain.
Nectar raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. × Rubus arcticus L.)
The aim in breeding the nectar raspberry, ongoing since 1939,
has been to combine the fine aroma of the arctic bramble berries
506
with the cultural qualities of the raspberry. The arctic bramble is,
in itself, an important target for breeding at the institute. Being a
native wild plant, with above-ground shoot parts that wither away
before the advent of winter, winter hardiness has not been a prob-
lem.
As a result of numerous crosses and backcrosses, ‘Heija’, the
first nectar raspberry cultivar, was released in 1975 (Hiirsalmi and
Säkö, 1976). However, it inherited some of the unfavorable char-
acteristics of the raspberry, especially poor winter hardiness. Since
then, the sister selection of ‘Heija’ has proven to be of greater
promise. It was released under the name ‘Heisa’ in 1981 (Hiirsalmi
and Sake, 1981). This cultivar, which resembles the raspberry in
its growth characteristics, is superior to ‘Heija’ in growth habit and
winter hardiness, as well as yield and berry size.
Breeding of the nectar raspberry continues with that of the rasp-
berry. A major objective is to develop cultivars with even greater
winter hardiness.
Sea-buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.)
The sea-buckthorn, a wild berry growing on the western coast of
Finland, also grows well under cultivation and is winter-hardy.
Picking the berries, however, is a problem with the domestic sea-
buckthorn strains, limiting possibilities for profitable cultivation.
We use subspecies and strains of the sea-buckthorn that grow in
Central Europe and Asia (Rousi,. 1965, 1971) in breeding plants
with fewer thorns and ones on which the berries can be picked
intact. This breeding work, based on crossings and radiation, has
been carried out by the institute on a small scale since 1973. In the
early 1980s, we received sea-buckthorn cultivars for trial from the
USSR that had been developed for Siberian conditions. Their har-
vestability is considerably better than that of the Finnish wild strains.
However, they did not tolerate the hard winter of 1986-87 in the
coastal climate of Finland even though they may winter well in
Siberia at temperatures of – 50C. The wild strains of the Finnish
sea-buckthorn have not been damaged during the most severe cold
winters. Selections developed by the Institute of Horticulture have
wintered quite well.
The Finnish small-fruit cultivars and their parentage are listed in
Table 2.
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